Via AVAC
The report tracks the public, philanthropic and commercial investment in biomedical HIV prevention in 2009 including preventive and therapeutic HIV vaccines, microbicides, oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), adult male circumcision, prevention of mother to child transmission, and HSV-2 suppression and prevention.
The report finds stability in funding for HIV prevention research from 2008 to 2009. HIV vaccines continued to receive the majority of funding, with a total of US$868 million, which was equal to 2008 funding levels. Investment in microbicides was US$236 million, a decline of 3 percent from 2008 levels. Funding for PrEP increased by 18 percent over 2008 levels to US$52 million.
The stability in funding is encouraging, given a 10 percent decrease in funding for AIDS vaccine research seen in 2008, but the Working Group identified several areas of concern if funding remains flat, including escalating costs of late-stage clinical research, dependency on a small group of funders and a lack of diversity in funders.
Recent and upcoming results from several major studies are already changing the trajectory of HIV prevention research and highlight the need for increased and sustained funding. This week's CAPRISA 004 results are tremendously exciting, but they are by no means the definitive answer about antiretroviral-based microbicides; appropriately resourced confirmatory and development research is urgently needed.
To download the full report, click here.
Showing posts with label HSV-2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HSV-2. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Positive Results from a Microbicide Trial - an overview of media coverage
A study by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) found that a vaginal gel containing the antiretroviral (ARV) drug tenofovir was 39 percent effective in reducing a woman's HIV risk when used for about three-quarters of sex acts and 54 percent effective when used more consistently. It also halved the incidence of genital herpes infections.
“Tenofovir gel could fill an important HIV prevention gap by empowering women who are unable to successfully negotiate mutual faithfulness or condom use with their male partners,” said Quarraisha Abdool Karim, one of the lead investigators of the study and associate director of Caprisa. “This new technology has the potential to alter the course of the HIV epidemic, especially in southern Africa where young women bear the brunt of this devastating disease.”
To learn more visit the following stories:
Scientific American: Vaginal gel shows effectiveness in preventing HIV in women
Science Express: At Last, Vaginal Gel Scores Victory Against HIV and Effectiveness and Safety of Tenofovir Gel, an Antiretroviral Microbicide, for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Women
New York Times: Study Offers Two Paths To Cut H.IV. Rate For African Women
Wall Street Journal Online: Gel Cuts AIDS, Herpes Risk For Women
Financial Times Online: HIV Infections Halved By Gel Treatment
Associated Press: Anti-AIDS Gel Helps Prevent Infection, Study Finds
Reuters: AIDS Gel With Gilead Drug Protects Women In Study and FACTBOX - Trial Shows An AIDS Gel Can Protect Women
Agence France-Presse: Major Step Seen In Quest For Anti-HIV Vaginal Gel
Aidsmap: Tenofovir-Based Microbicide Gel Reduces Risk of Infection for Women by 39%
BBC: Scientists Say Vaginal Gel Cuts HIV-Infections By Half
Washington Post: Vaginal Gel Cuts Risk Of HIV Infection, Study Shows
US News & World Report: Vaginal Gel Cuts Risk Of HIV Infection, Study Shows
The Guardian: HIV infection risk for women halved by gel – study and HIV breakthrough as scientists discover new vaccine to prevent infection
All Africa: Finally, Positive Results From a Microbicide Trial
CBS News: Anti-AIDS Gel Halves Infection Risk, Study Finds
Mail and Guardian: Aids infection risk for women halved by gel, says study
BuaNews: Study On Risk-Reducing Gel Welcomed
Monday, July 19, 2010
HIV Prevention Science Scores a Victory – The Gel Works!
IRMA media release
IRMA Presses for Intensified Rectal Microbicide Research
Vienna, Austria July 19, 2010 – Today at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, members of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) and thousands of other HIV advocates and scientists cheered a long-awaited, much anticipated success in the quest for new HIV prevention technologies. Researchers announced that a vaginal gel has been shown to significantly reduce a woman’s risk of being infected with HIV and genital herpes.
These game-changing results of the safety and effectiveness study of an antiretroviral microbicide gel were reported by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA).
The microbicide gel that CAPRISA studied contained 1% tenofovir—an antiretroviral drug commonly used to treat people living with HIV—and was found to be 39% effective in reducing a woman’s risk of becoming infected with HIV during vaginal intercourse and 51% effective in preventing genital herpes infections among the women in the trial. These protective effects increased as the use of tenofovir increased, so that women who used the gel in more than 80% of their sex acts during the trial had a 54% reduction in HIV infections. If and when other studies of tenofovir gel confirm these results, widespread use of the gel, at this level of protection, could prevent millions of new HIV infections over the next two decades. Tenofovir is also being studied as a form of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis.
“The positive results from the CAPRISA 004 study represent a very significant milestone in HIV prevention research and they increase optimism that we can develop safe and effective antiretroviral rectal microbicides,” said University of Pittsburgh’s Dr. Ian McGowan, IRMA Scientific Vice-Chair and co-principal investigator of the Microbicide Trials Network. “Phase I rectal safety studies with tenofovir are ongoing and these efforts need to be intensified to help us move forward to rectal microbicide effectiveness studies as quickly as possible,” he said.
As with vaginal microbicides, safe and effective rectal microbicides are urgently needed by millions of people. Anal intercourse is a common human sexual behavior, practiced by approximately 5 – 10% of the world’s general population, including heterosexual women and men, gay men, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Because an act of unprotected anal intercourse is 10 to 20 times more likely to result in HIV transmission compared to unprotected vaginal intercourse, it is likely that unprotected anal intercourse is a significant driver in the global HIV epidemic.
“Certainly, for gay men and other MSM across the world, unprotected anal intercourse is the chief cause of HIV infection,” said IRMA Chair Jim Pickett. “But the world has largely ignored gay men, and anal intercourse. Gay men and other MSM are under-represented in most national AIDS strategies, in epidemiology, surveillance, and in research, if they show up at all. They have been woefully underserved by prevention, care, treatment and support services. “Similarly,” he continued, “there is a paucity of data regarding anal intercourse – homosexual and heterosexual – due to politics, stigma, criminalization, and outright denial.”
Globally, gay men and other MSM are 19 times more likely to be HIV infected compared to the general population. These disproportionate rates extend to Africa, where the epidemic is often characterized as “heterosexual.” In Uganda for instance, HIV rates among gay men and other MSM are just above 40% compared to 5% for men of reproductive age. In South Africa, where the global AIDS pandemic is most severe, the HIV rates between gay men/MSM and men of reproductive age are almost the same – both hovering around 15%.
Comparing gay men and other MSM to both males and females of reproductive age, gay men and MSM are 1.3 times more likely to be HIV-infected in Eastern Europe, 3.8 times more likely in Africa, 18.7 times more likely in Asia, and 33.3 times more likely in the Americas. Data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early 2010 revealed that gay men/MSM in the United States are 44 times more likely to be HIV-positive than other men, and 40 times more likely to be HIV-positive than women.
“The bottom line is, for the men and women who engage in anal intercourse, condoms work quite well to prevent HIV,” said Pickett, “but many people do not use them, or are simply unable to use them due to a number of issues including power dynamics in sexual relationships, stigma, and a serious lack of availability. According to the Global HIV Prevention Working Group, only 9% of individuals at risk for HIV infection had access to condoms in 2008. Condom-compatible lubricants are also in dangerously short supply.”
While the rectal microbicide field has gained significant momentum, more focus and resources are needed. In 2010, U.S. $7.2 million is being spent globally on rectal microbicide research. IRMA has calculated that annual investments must increase by 40% from 2011 – 2014, to U.S. $10 million/year and must increase further to U.S. $44 million (a six-fold increase) in the years 2015 – 2020 to ensure a minimum of candidate products are moving through the research pipeline into late stage testing for effectiveness.
“We are optimistic that the CAPRISA results will not only accelerate the development of safe and effective vaginal microbicides, but that this proof of concept will also be translated into more financial and creative energy into rectal microbicide development,” said Pickett. “With five new infections for every two individuals beginning treatment, it’s absolutely imperative we find new ways to prevent HIV for individuals at risk, gay and straight, women and men.”
***** Click here for the article in Science - Effectiveness and Safety of Tenofovir Gel, an Antiretroviral Microbicide, for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Women
IRMA Presses for Intensified Rectal Microbicide Research
Quarraisha Abdool Karim (left) and Salim Abdool Karim,
co-principal investigators of the CAPRISA 004 trial.
Vienna, Austria July 19, 2010 – Today at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, members of the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) and thousands of other HIV advocates and scientists cheered a long-awaited, much anticipated success in the quest for new HIV prevention technologies. Researchers announced that a vaginal gel has been shown to significantly reduce a woman’s risk of being infected with HIV and genital herpes.
These game-changing results of the safety and effectiveness study of an antiretroviral microbicide gel were reported by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA).
The microbicide gel that CAPRISA studied contained 1% tenofovir—an antiretroviral drug commonly used to treat people living with HIV—and was found to be 39% effective in reducing a woman’s risk of becoming infected with HIV during vaginal intercourse and 51% effective in preventing genital herpes infections among the women in the trial. These protective effects increased as the use of tenofovir increased, so that women who used the gel in more than 80% of their sex acts during the trial had a 54% reduction in HIV infections. If and when other studies of tenofovir gel confirm these results, widespread use of the gel, at this level of protection, could prevent millions of new HIV infections over the next two decades. Tenofovir is also being studied as a form of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis.
“The positive results from the CAPRISA 004 study represent a very significant milestone in HIV prevention research and they increase optimism that we can develop safe and effective antiretroviral rectal microbicides,” said University of Pittsburgh’s Dr. Ian McGowan, IRMA Scientific Vice-Chair and co-principal investigator of the Microbicide Trials Network. “Phase I rectal safety studies with tenofovir are ongoing and these efforts need to be intensified to help us move forward to rectal microbicide effectiveness studies as quickly as possible,” he said.
As with vaginal microbicides, safe and effective rectal microbicides are urgently needed by millions of people. Anal intercourse is a common human sexual behavior, practiced by approximately 5 – 10% of the world’s general population, including heterosexual women and men, gay men, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Because an act of unprotected anal intercourse is 10 to 20 times more likely to result in HIV transmission compared to unprotected vaginal intercourse, it is likely that unprotected anal intercourse is a significant driver in the global HIV epidemic.
“Certainly, for gay men and other MSM across the world, unprotected anal intercourse is the chief cause of HIV infection,” said IRMA Chair Jim Pickett. “But the world has largely ignored gay men, and anal intercourse. Gay men and other MSM are under-represented in most national AIDS strategies, in epidemiology, surveillance, and in research, if they show up at all. They have been woefully underserved by prevention, care, treatment and support services. “Similarly,” he continued, “there is a paucity of data regarding anal intercourse – homosexual and heterosexual – due to politics, stigma, criminalization, and outright denial.”
Globally, gay men and other MSM are 19 times more likely to be HIV infected compared to the general population. These disproportionate rates extend to Africa, where the epidemic is often characterized as “heterosexual.” In Uganda for instance, HIV rates among gay men and other MSM are just above 40% compared to 5% for men of reproductive age. In South Africa, where the global AIDS pandemic is most severe, the HIV rates between gay men/MSM and men of reproductive age are almost the same – both hovering around 15%.
Comparing gay men and other MSM to both males and females of reproductive age, gay men and MSM are 1.3 times more likely to be HIV-infected in Eastern Europe, 3.8 times more likely in Africa, 18.7 times more likely in Asia, and 33.3 times more likely in the Americas. Data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early 2010 revealed that gay men/MSM in the United States are 44 times more likely to be HIV-positive than other men, and 40 times more likely to be HIV-positive than women.
“The bottom line is, for the men and women who engage in anal intercourse, condoms work quite well to prevent HIV,” said Pickett, “but many people do not use them, or are simply unable to use them due to a number of issues including power dynamics in sexual relationships, stigma, and a serious lack of availability. According to the Global HIV Prevention Working Group, only 9% of individuals at risk for HIV infection had access to condoms in 2008. Condom-compatible lubricants are also in dangerously short supply.”
While the rectal microbicide field has gained significant momentum, more focus and resources are needed. In 2010, U.S. $7.2 million is being spent globally on rectal microbicide research. IRMA has calculated that annual investments must increase by 40% from 2011 – 2014, to U.S. $10 million/year and must increase further to U.S. $44 million (a six-fold increase) in the years 2015 – 2020 to ensure a minimum of candidate products are moving through the research pipeline into late stage testing for effectiveness.
“We are optimistic that the CAPRISA results will not only accelerate the development of safe and effective vaginal microbicides, but that this proof of concept will also be translated into more financial and creative energy into rectal microbicide development,” said Pickett. “With five new infections for every two individuals beginning treatment, it’s absolutely imperative we find new ways to prevent HIV for individuals at risk, gay and straight, women and men.”
***** Click here for the article in Science - Effectiveness and Safety of Tenofovir Gel, an Antiretroviral Microbicide, for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Women
Friday, May 1, 2009
HSV-2 suppression to reduce HIV transmission among partners
via IRMA member Rober Reinhard:"Characteristics of HIV-1 Discordant Couples Enrolled in a Trial of HSV-2 Suppression to Reduce HIV-1 Transmission: The Partners Study"
An interesting paper was published today about HSV-2 suppression to reduce HIV transmission among partners, describing the largest cohort of serodiscordant couples ever organized. It also contains an important explanation of the differences between reducing "transmission" and reducing "acquisition" that affect understanding of the "ACE" prevention study results. An amazing effort which also looked at anal sex practices. The cohort however recruited only heterosexual couples, no doubt because of important design, biology andlogistic reasons but that points to more efforts that could be made to recruit MSM partner cohorts. Some attempts of course have already been made but if you look down the line to what could be learned from this cohort it has ancillary studies potential that could be helpful for microbicides.
Click here to read the full paper on PloS Hub for Clinical Trials.
The Partners HSV-2/HIV-1 Transmission Study (Partners Study) is a phase III, placebo-controlled trial of daily acyclovir for genital herpes (HSV-2) suppression among HIV-1/HSV-2 co-infected persons to reduce HIV-1 transmission to their HIV-1 susceptible partners, which requires recruitment of HIV-1 serodiscordant heterosexual couples. We describe the baseline characteristics of this cohort.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Microbicide uses RNA interference technology to halt viral infection
via Aidsmap
Scientists at Harvard Medical School have succeeded in protecting mice against herpes infection for one week using a single application of a microbicide based on a new technology called RNA interference.
The technology, still in its infancy as a therapeutic tool, could have a powerful impact as an HIV prevention tool, according to Professor Judy Lieberman, lead investigator.
Read the rest.
Scientists at Harvard Medical School have succeeded in protecting mice against herpes infection for one week using a single application of a microbicide based on a new technology called RNA interference.
The technology, still in its infancy as a therapeutic tool, could have a powerful impact as an HIV prevention tool, according to Professor Judy Lieberman, lead investigator.
Read the rest.
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